Physical Evidence Uncommon In Child Sexual Abuse Cases

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of Sunday reports on child sexual abuse — investigating and prosecuting the crime, aiding the victims and preventing abuse.

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of Sunday reports on child sexual abuse — investigating and prosecuting the crime, aiding the victims and preventing abuse.

Because children abused by someone they know are more likely to delay or deny abuse, and more than 90 percent of children are victimized by family or an acquaintance, physical evidence of sexual abuse is uncommon.

"A normal exam is normal. Over 90 percent (of sexual assault exams completed on children) result in no finding," said Melea McCormick, a sexual assault nurse examiner at the Hamilton House Child Safety Center in Fort Smith.

The passage of time is a significant factor, but McCormick said many allegations involve touching without penetration or involve children being forced to perform acts on their abuser.

Even penetration can occur without injury or cause injuries that heal quickly without scarring.

"Many people have the misconception that the hymen is a covering that gets broken when you have sex. But it’s like a ring around the (vaginal) opening that stretches and is made to stretch," McCormick said.

Another complication in physical exams is parents who are reluctant to subject their child to an intrusive procedure, Fort Smith police detective Kris Deason said.

But technological advances have changed how exams are done.

"With technology now, exams are minimally invasive and nothing goes in the child," said McCormick.

At Hamilton House, examiners use a colposcope, which illuminates and gives a magnified view of the cervix and tissue of the vagina and vulva.

A camera attached to the colposcope records the exam, which can be loaded on a server shared with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, and doctors there can view the exam and provide assistance, McCormick said.